Beethoven Symphony No. 9
Symphony Orchestra & Choir Concert
April 22, 2010
7:30 pm
Lyell B. Clay Theatre
West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra, Mitchell Arnold, conductor, performs Beethoven’ Symphony No. 9 in D Minor. 22 April, 7:30pm, Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre.
The WVU Symphony Orchestra is joined by the combined WVU Choirs, and vocal soloists Hope Koehler, Mandy Spivak, Nicholas Perna, and William Koehler for a performance of the great work known throughout the world as “The Ninth”. WVU Director of Orchestral Activities, Dr. Mitchell Arnold, will lead the performance. Choral preparation is under the direction of Jeffry Blake Johnson.
“No other orchestral work has such stature within the music world and our culture at large. It is a monumental, ground-breaking piece of music that has the power to enthrall and uplift,” said Dr. Arnold. “It is capable of breathing fire, soothing with great tenderness; it can depict earth-shaking cataclysm, and pastoral beauty. Ultimately, it is Beethoven’s offering to the world a path towards a utopia, using the gift of art, of music.”
“This is an exciting collaborative effort between the choral, vocal, and instrumental areas of the WVU Division of Music,” continued Dr. Arnold. “All our musicians look upon this work as a privilege to perform and share with the Morgantown community.”
WVU Professor of Acting and Directing, Jerry McGonigle will join the orchestra and choirs, for a brief reading from Shakespeare’s Hamlet to precede the first work on the concert: Hector Berlioz’s Marche Funèbre (Funeral March). This brief, profoundly moving work was intended to accompany the last scene of a production of Hamlet that went unrealized.
Program:
Hector Berlioz Marche Funèbre
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D Minor
Hope Koehler, soprano
Mandy Spivak, soprano
Nicholas Perna, tenor
William Koehler, bass-baritone
Jerry McGonigle, speaker
WVU Choirs, Jeffry Blake Johnson, conductor
WVU Symphony Orchestra, Mitchell Arnold, conductor